Enough Petty BS

Who else is tired of talking about Danielle? I know I am, but some things need to be explained.

I am not going to comment on the actual face to face meet until next week, but I will talk about some of the things that brought me to this point. As you can clearly see, I was 'Team Danielle' for a while. I was genuinely, sincerely giving her a second chance. I even went up against my own family and friends to defend her here and there. I thought she was a broken person and if she was willing to try and fix it, who am I to not give her the benefit of the doubt? None of us is perfect, we are all growing every day.

My texts to Danielle were always those of encouragement when I saw that she may be slipping up and not staying in the positive. As I said in my last blog, we are all human and our emotions sometimes get the best of us. When I would see an interview that she did and she would bring up the past or say something negative, I would shoot her a quick email or text saying, "Don't do this, I believe in you." Even if she was making comments about my family, I was still trying to help her through this. I made it clear to her that I wasn't ready to be her friend and hang with her, but I was not her enemy either. All I ever wanted was for all of this nonsense to go away. I could honestly say I tried my best, but there comes a point when you just need to set your boundaries.

When I say that she did a few things to piss me off, I have to be honest, it was more than just a few little things. I think Jacqueline covered a lot of this in her past blogs. Discussing lies about the other Housewives on air with her "friends" was kinda a bad move. The list of petty BS like that goes on and on (and on). The petty stuff aggravated me, but it wasn't until she chose to once again involve my daughter in her drama that she really proved to me she hadn't changed at all. I made it VERY clear to her that she was to stay away from my daughter's family, where she had poked her nose before. She had agreed, and PROMISED me that she would. Well, what a surprise it was when I found out that she chose to FILM at my sister-in-law's salon and try to make them talk about her version of "what made Caroline cry" nonsense on air.

When I emailed Danielle asking why she needed to continue to put an innocent child in the middle of her drama, she simply said, "I need to do what I need to do to clear my name because your sister called me garbage." Nice, huh? Danielle, if you believed in your heart that you aren't garbage you wouldn't have to work that hard to try to prove it. People have been calling me things for years, but I KNOW what I am and what I am not, that's all that really matters. I don't need to wave a flag saying, "I'm not a bitch!" I don't care what you think. (Hence my phrase in the opening credits, "If you think I'm a bitch, bring it on.") So maybe what you need to do is look in the mirror and REALLY try to fix what you know deep down you are.

The last straw for me was obviously the event that took place last week. Besides the fact that I don't want her drama in my husband's place of business, HOW DARE she make a scene like that at a function for a child with cancer. (Read my last blog to see how upset I was.) This was IT. I was DONE. Our talk needed to happen. I needed to see her face to face and let her know that I wanted her out of my life for good.

What cracks me up is when I called her for the meeting her busted Rick Springfield buddy thought I was calling to apologize for what went down at the Brownstone. How delusional are you people? The only apology that should have happened was the Stayin Alive misfit and DANIELLE apologizing to the organization that ran the event for that child and clearly an apology to the child's family. NOTHING ELSE. What planet do they live on?

And let's talk about the "fag*ot" situation, I unlike Danielle do not defend my gay friends just to make myself look better and cause drama. (Last season, attacking Joe...) I am truly offended by that word to the point that I won't even spell it out. To me it is just as bad as the N word. Beyond having gay members in my own family, my gay friends are the kindest, most loyal people I know. I feel so strongly about supporting the gay community that I am currently producing an off-Broadway play called "My Big Gay Italian Wedding" and a portion of EVERY ticket sold goes to fight for equality. My daughter and I also did the NOH8 campaign before it was the "cool" thing to do. I don't just talk the talk Danielle, I walk the walk. And don't give me that bullshit that you walked in the parade, you did that for your own ego. Just like you thought that little baby's event was about you and all the love you got when you walked in the room. You're the kind that does a pride walk to be in a parade, not because you believe in the cause. I don't buy your bullshit. What's next? Are you going to date a woman to prove to the world that you are so gay friendly? I wouldn't put it past you. In my opinion the only thing you are an advocate for is yourself. Do yourself a favor stay home from pride this year, you may just get miles and miles of booing.

All I will say about "the talk" is that I went on my own, all by myself, and was SHOCKED to find out she had her thugs waiting there for me. She also had a bar full of them. I looked up for a brief second to see her cronies scary mugs starring me down. It did throw me for a loop, I'm not going to lie. I said in the one scene that I wasn't afraid of Danielle, and I wasn't. But after seeing the crowd she rolls with and the fact that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants, I can honestly say that I do fear for my safety. I didn't sign on for this, as a result of this show, a horrific person is now in my life who I just can't seem to shake. I think I may have had enough. Watch what happens.

On a much lighter note, I am usually tweeting during our show giving a play by play, but tonight I was at our Project Ladybug's 4th annual Ladies' Night out. 1200 woman gathered together under a huge tent at the Brownstone for a "Night in Morocco." I am so proud of what Ladybug has become and so thrilled to make a difference in the lives of these beautiful children battling this awful disease. Thank you all who support us. Visit www.projectladybug.org for more info on how you could help! Also, you may have noticed the red extension that I have been wearing in my hair. You could have one too! It's only $10 and all the proceeds go to help us build a rooftop playground at the hospital so the kids can feel like "kids" while receiving treatment. Visit www.luckylocks.org to find out more about it!

And last but not least, how awesome is my jewelry this year? Guess what? It's all for sale on www.dinamanzo.com. I am so thrilled to have my own line of fun affordable jewelry, check it out! Even the gorgeous square crystal ring is on there, it's one of my favorites. LOVE IT! Project Ladybug also has their own line of jewelry and all the proceeds go to the kids. Check out Euphoria NY's Red and Black collection on projectladybug.org it is GORGEOUS! And don't forget Ladybugs are good luck! We could all use a little bit of that AND the good Karma that comes along with supporting an amazing cause.

I will see all of you next week, I just wanted to take a minute to let you all know that your kind words mean THE WORLD to me. I love that I have made some of you think about getting rid of the negative in your life, as you can see it doesn't happen over night. It's a practice and certain situations can challenging, to say the least. I am still a work in progress, just as we all are.
Dina xoxo